STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
MILTON ANGELO PAULK, APPELLEE
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An unlicensed person cannot lawfully carry a concealed weapon in another person's dwelling, as the statutory exemption is limited to one's own home or place of business.
[1] A person possessing arms at his home or place of business is exempt from concealed weapon statutes.
[2] The exemption for possessing arms at one's home or place of business does not extend to another person's residence.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePolice found a handgun near Paulk, who was sitting on a couch in another person's residence, and an empty holster on his person. Paulk was not alleged…
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W. SHARP, Judge.
The state appeals from the trial court’s order dismissing the information filed on September 7, 1990, against Paulk, which charged him with carrying a concealed weapon in violation of section 790.01. Based on affidavits not controverted by the state, Paulk was present at another person’s residence when police officers served a search warrant. They found a handgun on the floor beneath the place on a couch where Paulk had been sitting, and an empty gun holster on his person. There was no allegation in the information or elsewhere that Paulk was a trespasser, or otherwise unlawfully in the dwelling. We reverse.
This case involves a very narrow legal question: can an otherwise unlicensed person lawfully carry a concealed weapon in another person’s dwelling or residence? The trial court ruled that section 790.-25(3)(n) permits a person lawfully on the premises of another’s residence to carry a concealed weapon. It provides:
(3) Lawful Uses. — The provisions of ss. 790.53 and 790.06 do not apply in the following instances, and, despite such sections, it is lawful for the following persons to own, possess, and lawfully use firearms and other weapons, ammunition, and supplies for lawful purposes:
* * * * * *
(n) A person possessing arms at his home or place of business.
It appears to us that the exemption from 790.053 and 790.06 created by 790.25(3)(n) is specifically limited to that person’s own home or place of business. The provision “his” used by the Legislature must be given its ordinary meaning. Hamblen v. State, 527 So. 2d 800, 805 (Fla.1988); Rogers v. State, 511 So. 2d 526, 533 (Fla.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1020, 108 S.Ct. 733, 98 L.Ed.2d 681 (1988); Neal v. Bryant, 149 So. 2d 529 (Fla.1962). It clearly means “hers” as well as “his”; but it cannot also be stretched to mean “anyone else’s” residence or place of business so long as one is a guest or invitee. That would so broaden the exemption as to, in effect, swallow the criminal statute.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
GOSHORN, C.J., and DAUKSCH, J., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Allie Brook v. State, 999 So. 2d 1093 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009)…ed on the premises. The trial court denied the motion, explaining that the exemption relied upon by the defendant does not apply to persons having a concealed weapon at another person’s place of business. The trial court relied upon State v. Paulk, 588 So. 2d 60 (Fla. 5th DCA1991) which rejected a claim that the exemption encompassed a person’s possession of a concealed firearm in another person’s residence. The defendant entered a negotiated plea of nolo contendere to the charge of possession of a conceal…1 / 2
Authorities Cited
- United States ex rel. Accardi v. Shaughnessy, 347 U.S. 260 (U.S. 1954)
- Rogers v. State, 511 So. 2d 526 (Fla. 1987)
- Soliman v. Ebasco Servs., Inc., 484 U.S. 1020 (U.S. 1988)
- Ward v. Sentry Title Co., Inc., 484 U.S. 1020 (U.S. 1988)
- Hamblen v. State, 527 So. 2d 800 (Fla. 1988)
- Neal v. Farris Bryant, 149 So. 2d 529 (Fla. 1962)